14 | JULY 9 • 2020
of leaving wine and other small gifts on
people’s porches to brighten a neigh-
bor’s day.
“
All these women have just bonded
together to try and make this a little
easier for everyone,
” she said.
Lauren Cohen, a single mom to
19-month-old daughter Kinneret,
decided to expand her quarantine bub-
ble to include her parents after a strict
two-week distancing period in mid-
March. They’ve helped ease the stress
of single parenting for Cohen, who
lives in Lathrup Village. And Cohen
has been glad to have these months
with her daughter — time she wouldn’t
have gotten otherwise as a single work-
ing mom.
“We’re really thankful for this time,
”
she said.
But for Vishniac, who moved with
her boyfriend to a new house just as
quarantine began in March, and Segal,
whose brother came to live at her
house during the stay-at-home peri-
od, having other adults in the house
doesn’t make much of a difference
when it comes to parenting.
“
A parent is really different than
another person,
” Segal said. “No one
else can kiss her booboo when she falls
or gets hurt.
”
UNIQUE CHALLENGES
No matter what kind of support they’re
receiving, local single parents say there
are challenges at every turn of the pan-
demic.
Gray is a preschool teacher at Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield Township, but
teaching swim lessons was another big
part of her income. Those were put on
hold as indoor pools closed across the
state. Although she didn’t qualify for
unemployment, she did start getting
food stamps for the first time.
“I was getting the free lunches from
the school that I never thought I would
do,
” she said. “It was very humbling.
”
Keeping their children up to date
with virtual schooling also became a
major struggle for some parents when
Michigan schools moved online in
March. Kaganove’s son Nathan receives
extra support at his middle school. It
was a struggle to keep him motivated
to do schoolwork at home, Kaganove
said.
“It’s just not going to work fighting
with him, so I don't,
” he said. “I kind of
let him do his thing.
”
Kaganove said he hopes “with every
fiber of my being that we get some-
thing a little closer to normal in the
fall” in terms of school.
Vishniac, who ran around trying to
get her daughter ready for online math
class, said her daughter will repeat sec-
ond grade next year — a decision made
before the pandemic began. That made
struggling to get her daughter to finish
schoolwork even more frustrating,
Vishniac said.
“Give me a single parent pass,
” she
said. “Tell me I’m allowed to disappear
for the rest of the school year.
”
NOW WHAT?
Now that summer has arrived and
Michigan’s stay-at-home order has been
lifted, single parents are faced with
more options and more uncertainty.
Vishniac has started hiring babysit-
ters again to help keep Luta busy while
she works. Kaganove hopes to go
camping with his son — staying out-
doors is low-risk and he wants to find
a way to get the two of them out of the
house, he said.
But what happens beyond the sum-
mer is still hazy. Vishniac wants to
hear from Luta’s school about what the
fall will look like and what the future
might hold.
“I just want a plan, you know?” she
said. “It’s difficult to imagine what I’m
going to be doing in another several
months. I know that I can’t keep this
up … that’s for certain.
”
In terms of finding support from
the Jewish community, Segal said she
hopes a group like SPARC can gain
funding once again.
“I’
d like [the community] to
acknowledge that there are single par-
ents out there and I’
d like them to have
an organization again,
” she said. “I’
d
like them to have a single Jewish par-
ent, working on whatever they do for
single Jewish parents.
”
Steven Kaganove
and his son Nathan
continued from page 13
COURTESY OF STEVEN KAGANOVE
Jews in the D
cover story
Lauren Cohen
and Kinneret
Erica Gray,
Leah and Chloe
COURTESY OF ERICA GRAY
COURTESY OF LAUREN COHEN